Improvement in fruit-baskets



N. Lwcx.

FRUIT-BASKET.

mama 1m. 7,1875.

No.170,9ZO.

WI, W

"- 'ERs. mommuoammza, WA

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

NELSON L. TUGK, OF OHICOPEE, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN FRUIT-BASKETS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 170,920, dated December 7, 1875; application filed June 11, 1875.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NELSON L. TUGK, of Ghicopee, in the county of Hampden and in the State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fruit- Baskets; and do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved basket complete and ready for use, and Fig. 2 is a plan view of the blank used for forming the same.

Letters of like name and kind refer to like parts in each of the figures.

In the storage and shipment of small fruits, more especially strawberries, an important item of expense consists in the baskets used, said baskets being of such construction and so expensive as to render their care and preservation a matter of importance, and, consequently, add materially to the price of the article when sold.

To obviate these difficulties and furnish a basket that shall be strong, impervious to water, of small weight, and cheap, is the design of my invention.

It consists, as a new article of manufacture, in a fruit-basket constructed from pasteboard, in the manner hereinafter described, and coated exteriorly and interiorly with shellac, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

In the annexed drawing, Fig. 2 shows the blank from which my basket is formed, in which A represents the bottom, and B and B the sides, the latter being joined at their lower edges to said bottom, and made, preferably, with vertical air-openings b b, &c., and the whole cut from ordinary pasteboard which has been sized or coated with shellac. At one side, at the top of each side B, a tongue, 0, projects laterally outward, and furnishes a means for confining the same to the contiguous side, as hereinafter explained. The blank shown is cut with a die, and at the same time the lines upon which the sides B and tongues O are to be bent are scored or cut one-half the thickness of the pasteboard, after which said blank is bent to shape, as shown in Fig. 1,and an eyelet, D, placed through each tongue 0 and the contiguous portion of the side B, upon which the same is folded.

If desired, the sizing may be omitted until the basket is mechanically complete, in which event the portions of the interior of the material which are exposed by the scoring will be certain to be covered.

The basket thus constructed is light in weight, strong, and durable, is impervious to moisture, and can be cleaned in boiling water without injury to shape or material. While possessing these advantages said basket can be produced at so small a cost (five dollars per thousand) as to render the expense of their use by dealers a matter of no consequence.

I am aware that fruit-baskets have been constructed from one piece, with each of their sides provided with a tongue, which lapped over and was secured to the contiguous side, and, therefore, do not claim, broadly, such construction.

Having thus fully set forth the nature and merits of my invention, what- I claim is- As a new article of manufacture, the hereinbefore-described fruit-basket, consisting of the bottom A, sides B and B, and tongues (J and 0, formed of one piece, secured in position by means of the eyelets D and D, and coated exteriorly and interiorly with shellac, substantially as specified.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this 11th day of June, 1875.

NELSON L. TUOK.

- Witnesses:

GEO. S. PRINDLE, E. T. PBINDLE. 

